by Antonio Moreno

In our last teaching, we discussed two steps that each person must take to further their relationship with Jesus.  We must first surrender fully to Jesus and what He is asking us to do.  Second, we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross to follow Jesus every single day.  Once we are able to complete these two steps, we can follow our true calling of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

But what does becoming a disciple of Jesus mean?  What do you have to do to become a disciple of Jesus?

A disciple is a person who is committed to a lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus, even if this relationship ends in death.  A disciple is a committed person or group who follows and does the teachings of a person or a group, in this case a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Becoming a disciple does not save you.  You must first confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior and make Him Lord of your life.  This is the first step to salvation and following Jesus.  The second step in following Jesus is to become a disciple.

In the gospel of Luke, we learn that a large group of people are following Jesus, but not everyone was a true disciple.  Jesus noticed the large group and instructed the group on what a true disciple would look like.

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:23-25

He told them to deny themselves, die to self, disown yourself, give me the right to your life by giving up their own interest in their lives and to say no to the things they wanted.  Affirm that no one has connections with someone who would hold them back from fully following Jesus.

But what do these words mean for us in this modern age?

Jesus is encouraging us to deny the parts of our lives that can easily be enchanted with the things of this world.  We have to give up the one thing that stands in our way to fully following Jesus.  For some of us, this is lying to cover up our sins.  Cheating on a spouse who doesn’t meet our needs, drugs that seem to make everything better but don’t help at all, or a reliance on money and not God to provide. We have to choose to die to ourselves and give up whatever stands in our way of fully following Jesus.  We have to give up whatever has become an idol in our lives, whatever we turn to instead of Jesus for satisfaction or relief.  This is what Jesus is calling us to give up through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Once we are able to do this, everything will will work out for our benefit and the benefit of God’s kingdom.

Jesus is also asking us to pick up our cross and to follow him.  He wants us to follow His teachings of the cross which is letting Christ be the center of our lives.  So we empty ourselves of all the negative and sinful natures we have instilled in us, and He fills us with a new nature that yearns to be more like Christ. He wants us to be a student of the word.  He is our foundation.  Jesus wants us to pray in faith and to fellowship with other believers.  We are also to witness around the world.  These are all non negotiable when we choose to follow Jesus.  These are His minimum expectations.

When Jesus called His disciples into action, He said that His disciples must forsake families, possessions, purposes, and anything that might keep them from following Him.  (Luke 14:26)  Jesus is asking for a full commitment.  Some of us think that this type of commitment is easy.  We are committed to our families, to our sports teams, and to our churches.  Some of us are so committed to our religious activities that we sometimes forget the reason behind them.  We forget that Jesus is the center of everything and we do things for the wrong reason.  We are trying to check off the boxes of a good Christian and to have an appearance that may not be who we truly are.

To truly be a disciple of Christ, we must give Christ our supreme loyalty.  His followers must love Him more than anything in the world.  This is a minimum requirement that He asked of His disciples.  These requirements gave them eternal rewards.  We must be willing to let Jesus take the driver’s seat in our life so He can guide us and truly call us His disciples.  These things were areas of concern in Christ’s day and are still a problem for us today.

Anyone who does not give up everything that causes us to not fully follow Jesus cannot be a disciple of Christ. Anyone who does not die to self, carry his cross daily, and follow Jesus cannot be a disciple.  No one can become a disciple who is not willing to deny himself of herself.  Christ must be the number one priority in your life.  Our highest purpose in life is to glorify God.

Like us, Christ’s chosen disciples weren’t perfect.  Two chose to sleep instead of honoring Jesus’s request to pray for him in Gethsemane.  Others argued over who would be the chief in the Kingdom.  Judas betrayed Jesus and sold him for 30 pieces of silver.  When Jesus was arrested, the disciples scattered and hid.  Peter, one of Jesus’s closest friends, denied knowing Jesus three times. But Jesus never gave up on them.  After His death and resurrection, the disciples lives changed dramatically.  Acts 4:18-37 shows that His disciples loved Jesus more than any person, purpose, or possession in their lives.  Most of them gave up their lives to preach and teach about Jesus.

Jesus never stopped working on them to transform them into His own character.  Like His disciples, you can begin to grow no matter in what stage of discipleship you find yourself in today.  Repent and move forward one day at a time to the final stage.

Ask God to show you what purpose, possession, or person is stopping you from growing into the disciple you are supposed to be.  To be a disciple of Christ, you need to surrender control to him in every area of your life.  Jesus surrendered all as He entered the River Jordan and left behind His purposes.  He accepted God’s challenge to become the very first obedient disciple that we will ever know.  Make the same decision to follow Jesus until He returns to take us home.

Your life will have more meaning, more power, more purpose,and more opportunities to work for our Master, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ.  In heaven, people won’t need to ask you what you did for Jesus because you will shine with the everlasting glory of His work for eternities to come.  The price is too little compared to the rewards and your place in His Kingdom.

Jesus is coming soon.  He is almost here.  Make your final moments count.

If you have questions or would like more information, please feel free to email us at tonyontheborder@gmail.com.